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A second message delivered nearly 40 minutes later, said there was no threat or danger.

In addition to scrambling to shelter, Hawaiians described the terrifying moments of uncertainty that forced them to make difficult choices.

One man told of how, after receiving the alert and believing it to be real, he was forced to make a split second decision on which of his family members he would spend the last moments of his life with.

Gene Park, who works for the Washington Post, tweeted a message he received from a friend in Hawaii who was “in tears” after the false alarm.

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An automated warning telling Hawaiians to 'seek immediate shelter' was sent out to phones yesterday

He said the father had just dropped his oldest child off at the airport and stopped at a restaurant when he received the warning.

The man, fearing the missile could strike at any minute, was then faced with the unimaginable choice of either sheltering where he was, driving back to the airport to be with his eldest son, driving to his wife, who was elsewhere or heading home to be with his two youngest children.

He made the decision to head home to be with his youngest children, despite “knowing I wouldn’t likely make it home in time”.

Since the crisis, Donald Trump has been briefed.

White House spokeswoman, Lindsay Walters, suggested the state-wide alert could have been planned as she labelled it a ‘state exercise’.

Speculation was fuelled further when Hawaii Governor David Ige apologised for the false alert that left locals terrified.

Mr Ige labelled the day one that “most of us will never forget” that resulted in Hawaiians thinking their “worst nightmares might actually be happening” in a news conference.

He said: “Today is a day that most of us will never forget, a day that many in our community thought our worst nightmares might actually be happening, a day when many frantically tried to think about the things they would do if a ballistic missile launch would happen.

“I know firsthand that what happened today was totally unacceptable and many in our community were deeply affected by this and I’m sorry for that pain and confusion anyone might have experienced.

“I’m too very angry and disappointed this happened.”

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Since the crisis, Donald Trump has been briefed

The Governor added that routine alerts in the country would be suspended until “appropriate changes” were made.

He declared: “Routine activities will be suspended until we can implement appropriate changes.

“We have already implemented some of the changes to ensure that more than one person is involved with that.

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Hawaii Governor David Ige apologised for the false alert that left locals terrified

“We definitely learned that some of the notifications, some of the sirens did not work and we need to understand what that is.

“On a going forward basis, we do intend to continue the monthly siren tests and other tests as we have done in the past."

The crisis was the result of Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Vern Miyagi pressing the “wrong button”, according to Mr Ige.